


i need you now more than ever

by wxldcxrd



Category: Its Always Sunny in Philadelphia
Genre: Abuse, Childhood, Childhood Trauma, Drug Addiction, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Falling In Love, High School, Implied/Referenced Child Abuse, Implied/Referenced Drug Use, M/M, Recreational Drug Use
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-05-23
Updated: 2018-06-22
Packaged: 2019-05-10 09:22:38
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, Underage
Chapters: 3
Words: 2,100
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14734307
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/wxldcxrd/pseuds/wxldcxrd





	1. First Day

It was the first day of kindergarten. A small, dirty little boy wandered into the colorful classroom by himself, not a parent in sight. The room was cluttered with toys, crayons, and other kids with their parents. The boy looked around for somewhere to sit, somewhere out of sight. His eyes caught the small, broken desk in the back corner of the room. He wandered to the desk and and saw another boy in the chair to the right. He was a bit taller, his hair slicked back and his eyes glued to the floor. The other boy was in a cutoff shirt. and combat boots that looked too big. The small boy sat down in the broken chair, and looked to his right. 

"H-Hey man, you ok?" the small boy mumbled.

The other boy looked up. "Yeah, dude. I'm ok".

Their eyes met, and the small boy peeped up once more. "Uh, I'm Charlie, Charlie Kelly. Who are you?"

The taller boy suddenly turned red. "Oh, uh, my name is Ronald. Ronald McDonald, but everyone calls me Mac. Call me anything else and I'll karate chop your head off, dude".

He showed off some karate moves, and Charlie laughed. They smiled at each other. Charlie's first day seemed to start out alright.


	2. Chapter 2

Charlie and Mac became very close after that first day of school. Not a day went by where they didn't see each other. Mac's dad was in prison, and his mom was never around. When she was, she couldn't give a damn about Mac.

Mac was on his own most of the time before he met Charlie. His dad would be off dealing, and his mom was just never around. Mac taught himself to steal so he could have some nice things. He took his combat boots from a store down the street. They were easier to wear, since he never learned how to tie his shoes. He learned karate from standing outside the karate place down the street. But when he met Charlie, everything was different.

Charlie never had anyone before Mac. His mom was always around, but she wasn't a very good mom. She always had strange men over that Charlie had never seen before, and always invited Charlie's Uncle Jack to stay at their house, no matter how many times Charlie begged his mom to keep him away. Charlie never got any attention, and spent most of his days wandering the street. He played with stray cats, and got picked on by the bigger kids. But with Mac around, he wasn't alone anymore.

Mac and Charlie spent everyday together. After school, they'd go hang out in the alleyway behind Mac's house. When it got cold, they'd spend the long days huddled up in Charlie's basement. With their parents never around, all they really had was each other. Mac made friends with a few other kids throughout school, but those friendships fell apart. Charlie never really grew attached to anyone besides Mac, so no one else really liked him.

Elementary school was a breeze. With Charlie's intelligence so low, Mac was surprised the damn kid didn't get held back. Charlie couldn't read too well, or spell, or write... The kid didn't really grasp the whole language thing. But, Mac would have been heartbroken if Charlie didn't move up with him, so he was always there to make sure Charlie passed. He'd pick out shirts with some writing on them, just to make Charlie read them and remember the words.

Middle school came around, and Charlie wasn't doing too good. The other kids made fun of him for being dirty, and wearing almost the same clothes everyday. He always wore this black tee-shirt with a sketchy drawing of a horse on it. It was way too big on him, but it was his favorite shirt. Mac always thought it was funny how big the shirt was on him, and frequently commented that the two of them could probably wear it at the same time. But Charlie didn't care what the other kids said. He had Mac by his side, standing up for him when Charlie couldn't. Mac got sick for a week with the flu, and Charlie came home everyday with a new bruise on his face. Mac promised that week that he wouldn't let Charlie go to school alone ever again.

The middle school years flew by, with Mac and Charlie always wandering the streets after school, or messing around in Charlie's basement. Summers went by quick, too quick for Mac and Charlie. Summer days is where the memories were made. Charlie would never forget the long nights they had, huddled around fires in the back alley with empty glue bottles littered at their feet. Mac would never forget the hot, sunny days they spent together wrestling in the sprinklers and throwing rocks at the trains passing by down at the rail yard. Like most middle school relationships, Mac and Charlie watched their classmates get into fights and grow apart from one another, but Mac and Charlie, they never left each others side.

For a rundown, south Philly middle school, Mac and Charlie made some pretty good memories and got by. But high school, high school was a brand new world for them. Mac and Charlie never even saw it coming.


	3. Chapter 3

High school was a whole new adventure for the boys. Freshman year, the worst year of high school. Saint Joseph's Prep School was an all boys school, but Charlie and Mac weren't really bummed about that. Of course Charlie would miss that one girl who always sat with him in the library so he could get away from the bullies in his free period. Mac had a class during then, and most days he couldn't skip. So this one girl would always hang around Charlie, and make him feel happy and safe. She'd mess around with his messy hair or teach him new words he couldn't quite grasp. This girl was one of the only people Charlie would let touch him, so she was pretty special.

Mac didn't really care for any of the girls. Sure, he had made a few friends, but no one really left an impact on him. He was just happy that he and Charlie shared a lot of classes together this year. He thought they wouldn't see one another too much, but they share all their classes.

Being one of the only high schools in the area, a lot of other boys from different schools attended. There were a lot more wealthier kids, who didn't live in the rundown, south philly neighborhoods Charlie and Mac spent their childhoods in. Charlie and Mac saw a lot of new faces, but no one really stood out to them. So, as always, Charlie and Mac kept to themselves.

A new perk of high school was a lot more freedoms. Charlie and Mac had a free period at the same time, and thankfully not a lot of kids had free periods. Teachers didn't really give a damn about what you did during free periods, as long as you came back to school for your next class. So, Mac and Charlie made it tradition to spend the hour long free period under the football bleachers at the back end of the school. They'd sit under the bleachers, completely out of sight. 

With his dad being an infamous drug dealer, and Mac learning how to con people from such a young age, he became the school's pot dealer. He stole most of his pot from the college kids down the street, for Charlie was small enough to crawl through the vents and reach the hiding spot for where they kept it. The college kids were always way too high to notice, so Mac began accumulating quite a stash of pot. He had his regulars, and a few stragglers who'd buy from him, but he always kept at least half of the weed he had for himself and Charlie.

Charlie usually preferred to stick to glue bottles or paint cans, but he loved smoking pot with Mac. He loved how giggly he and Mac would get while under the bleachers, but he still preferred the paint high. It made him "feel better" he always said. Mac never really understood why, for every time it was brought up, Charlie would just completely shut down. Mac figured it was best to leave it alone, so he always let Charlie do what he wanted when they were smoking.

The hour long, pot smoking breaks Charlie and Mac spent together became a trademark of their relationship. They were out there everyday, rain or shine, even in the harsh philly cold. Mac would sell pot from under there, and help Charlie with his homework. Charlie would smoke with Mac or take naps, because the kid never got any sleep. Memories were made from under the bleachers, because neither Mac or Charlie actually gave a damn about school, they only went because Mac wanted to do something with his life, and Charlie blindly followed him everywhere.

In the middle of November, Charlie and Mac were under the bleachers of course. Charlie had on his grey Macgregor hoodie that was much too big for him, but Mac promised Charlie that he'd grow into it. The boys both sported fingerless gloves and bright red cheeks. Mac always loved when it was cold, because Charlie's freckles would pop out on his face. Mac began digging in his jacket pockets for the pill bottle jammed full of pot when another boy began walking towards them. Charlie looked at Mac, because they had never met this boy before. Sure, they'd seen him in the halls, but he's never bought pot before, nor would have any reason to know where Mac and Charlie's spot was. 

Charlie inched closer to Mac so that they were sitting hip-to-hip. Charlie recognized this boy, and he did not like him. This boy was friends with the kids who hit Charlie in middle school. Mac didn't know, so Charlie figured it was best to just huddle close to Mac like he would when they were younger. Charlie's hand reached for the back of Mac's jacket, where there was a small tear from where it was caught on a fence. Charlie and Mac were hopping the fence out of the junkyard to escape the two dogs charging at them, and the top of the chainlink caught the back of Mac's jacket.

As Charlie made eye contact with the strange boy, he tugged on the tear in Mac's jacket and ran his fingers along his back, for it always calmed him down. Mac had this odd sense of warmth to  him that always relaxed Charlie in any situation.

The boy finally got closer, and sat down a few feet across from Mac. Mac looked him up and down, Charlie did the same. Mac clutched the pill bottle in his cold hands in case this kid was trying to rob him. Mac finally mumbled, "Who the hell are you?"

The strange boy replied quickly. "You're Ronald, right?" His eyes ventured to Charlie. "You must be Charlie then, hell, you two are just like they described".

Charlie's fingers began to dig into Mac's back. His face felt hot. This felt like middle school all over again, he didn't want this. Mac suddenly spoke up, with a deep tone to his voice, the kind of tone Mac would get when he was upset. "It's  _Mac,_ actually. Call me Ronald again and I'll kick your ass".

The stranger snickered, and looked at Mac again. "Oh, so sorry  _Mac,_ my apologies. Anyways, I'm sick of sitting with those goddamn minions outside by the school, and I hear you guys have some pretty good pot. Down to share?" The boy flashed a twenty from his pale hands.

"Yeah, sure. Whatever" Mac mumbled. Charlie let go of Mac, and backed away a bit. The stranger handed Mac the twenty, and Charlie stared at Mac and the other boy. He watched Mac sprinkle bits of pot from the bottle into a new piece of rolling paper, and roll a perfect joint with such precision. Charlie handed Mac the lighter, and Mac took a long drag from his joint. He smiled as he exhaled, and passed it to the stranger.

"Hey, you never told us your name" Mac asked.

The other boy took a long drag, almost as long as Mac, and closed his eyes. "My name? I'm Dennis. Dennis Reynolds." The boy said as he exhaled.

Mac looked at the ground and smiled.


End file.
